This content was created by Xtra’s branded content team alongside BMO, separate from Xtra’s editorial staff.
The holidays are here, and let’s be real: they are chaotic for us all, between dodging office White Elephants to figuring out if your situationship deserves a gift. Meanwhile, small businesses are gearing up for what is often their most important time of year, 75% of them relying on holiday sales to keep the lights on. This year, the hustle is even harder, with tariffs and big-box stores more prevalent than ever.
BMO’s Wrap the Good campaign, now in its fifth year, turns holiday traditions into a showcase for small business clients, through creative touches like QR-coded wrapping paper, a mini holiday catalog disguised as an ornament and even holiday carols rewritten to celebrate small businesses.
The star of the show this year? A giant Gifting Calendar takes over Toronto’s Sankofa Square. Picture twenty-five windows flipping daily to reveal gift ideas from indie makers and community champions. Each reveal comes with a QR-code so you can shop faster than you can say “Add to Cart.”
80% of Canadians say supporting local matters more this year, and BMO’s Wrap the Good gift guide makes it easy to flex your shopping game while snagging gifts that feel personal and meaningful, not mass-produced.
This campaign is extra in all the right ways: along with the Gifting Calendar providing advertising real estate to small businesses, BMO has partnered with gift-giving influencers Maya Kapouranis, Brittany Galvin, and Cassandra Bouchard, and even making wrapping paper available across select BMO branches across North America featuring real products from participating small businesses. Plus, a new social series called Wrap Battles: timed gift-wrapping showdowns that are messy, hilarious and again, feature small business owners front-and-centre.
BMO is back at it, showing that banking, as much as it’s about chequing and savings accounts, is equally about community, creativity and spotlighting the small businesses that keep our neighbourhoods strong. This season, shop like you mean it at BMOWrapTheGood.com.
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